Yang Xiaobei, "I'll go over and take a look at the fracture. You stay here and watch."
"Okay, be careful."
Jiang Shushu picked up a stone from the ground and held it in his hand, staring at Yang Xiaobei without blinking the whole time, ready to take action if there was any danger and throw the stone at him.
Yang Xiaobei cautiously came to the broken branch and touched it. The smooth cut was obviously made with a knife. After confirming it, Yang Xiaobei immediately moved away from the tree and returned to Jiang Shushu.
"There are many flat areas on the fracture surface, which is obviously man-made."
Jiang Shushu was about to say something when he heard footsteps. He turned around and saw that it was the old couple Zhao Sanhua. He could tell at a glance that they were out for a walk.
When Zhao Sanhua saw the huge branch on the ground, she immediately cried out, "Oh my God! How did the branch fall? Didn't it hit anyone? Old man, hurry, hurry, hurry, go call for help."
"Okay, okay, I'll go right away."
Zhao Sanhua ran over quickly and saw Jiang Shushu and Yang Xiaobei at once. When she saw Yang Xiaobei wearing a police uniform, she became even more frightened.
Oh my God, oh my God, even the police are here, could it be that someone was really hit?
Zhao Sanhua looked at the dense leaves with worried eyes, fearing that several people were buried inside.
"Comrade police officer, did someone get hit? There's a warning sign! Why didn't you read it?"
Yang Xiaobei immediately turned serious. "Hello, ma'am, please tell me the details."
Zhao Sanhua nodded quickly, "Okay, okay, okay, this is what happened..." Zhao Sanhua explained the details of the incident clearly.
It turned out that the branch was too long and was pressing down on the power lines. The neighborhood committee decided to cut it down. However, halfway through the cut, the knife broke and the tree cutter was also scratched and sent to the hospital.
The neighborhood committee hung two signs under the tree and surrounded it with red ropes, telling people not to walk under the tree and that they would deal with it tomorrow morning.
At this time, a group of people came running over in a hurry. When they saw Yang Xiaobei in police uniform, they were all worried that someone might have been crushed by the tree branch.
"No one was hit, but my bicycle was smashed. I was coming home from get off work, and there were no warning signs or red ropes here. As I was passing under the tree, the branch above my head suddenly fell down. If I hadn't reacted quickly and ran fast, I would have been crushed to death by the branch. If it wasn't me who passed by just now, but a child, an elderly person, or a pregnant woman, I'm afraid someone would have died today."
"We clearly had warning signs put up, but who the heck took them away? Isn't that harming people?"
"Yes, yes, yes, we must catch him. It's really abominable. I usually go out for a walk at night. If it weren't for the strong wind today, I would have come out."
…
The neighbors were discussing the matter at once, and were all filled with indignation.
Zhao Sanhua felt scared when she thought about it. If her old man had not just gone to the toilet and spent a few extra minutes, it might have been her and her husband who were hit today.
If the couple had passed by here and hadn't seen the warning sign, they would have definitely checked under the tree. With their old age and frail legs, they couldn't run fast. A branch over ten centimeters thick? Falling from such a height, they would have been in grave danger...
Zhao Sanhua grew increasingly furious, gnashing her teeth in hatred for the person who had taken the warning sign. "After dinner, I went out to take out the trash around 6:20, and the sign was still there. Xiao Jiang said he couldn't see it when he came back, so someone must have taken it away during that time. Who saw it? Come out and tell us! This person must be caught! This is truly despicable! He's playing with his life."
Then a group of people started talking at once.
Neighbor Wang Xiaoye: "My family eats late, and when I went out to take out the trash it was exactly 6:30, and the warning sign was still there."
Neighbor Yan Ermei said, "My family also eats late. Just as I was about to call the kids home for dinner, I saw Sister Wang coming back from taking out the trash." Yan Ermei immediately lowered her head and asked her son, "Tangyuan, when you came back, did you see the sign here? It's red paper with words written on it, and it's tied with a red string?"
Tang Yuan nodded and said, "Yes, I saw it. At that time, Auntie told us not to pass under the tree, let alone get close to it. Tang Yuan was very obedient and didn't get close."
…
Then, one question after another followed, and finally all the accusations were directed at a 10-year-old boy named Zhao Jiabao. He was the last one left there, and he had no alibi.
When everyone looked at Zhao Jiabao, his face was very calm, but his hands hidden behind his back were clenched tightly, which showed that he was not as calm as he appeared.
Yang Xiaobei saw what Yang Jiabao did and guessed that it was most likely this brat who did it. So he walked up to Zhao Jiabao and asked, "Why did you take the warning sign away?"
Yang Jiabao stiffened his neck and refused to admit it. "I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't take it. It's none of my business."
"Think it over before answering me. Confess and you'll be treated leniently. Resist and you'll be treated severely. Lying will land you in jail."
"I didn't lie. I didn't do it. You can't just frame me."
Jiang Shushu thought about how red paper fades so easily that hands that touch it will often have a red tinge. So she asked her nearest neighbor how the warning sign was posted.
Jiang Shushu knew of two warning signs, one posted on the wall and one stuck with a stick under a tree.
Jiang Shushu quietly came to the wall where the warning sign was posted, looked at the marks on it, and confirmed that the red paper had been torn off.
The time was so short that Zhao Jiabao had no time to wash his hands. Besides, hands stained by red paper were not so easy to wash. If the red paper was torn off by Zhao Jiabao, his hands would definitely be red.
Jiang Shushu borrowed a flashlight from a neighbor, then quietly stood behind Zhao Jiabao, turned on the flashlight and shone it on his body. Sure enough, he saw red on Zhao Jiabao's hands.
Jiang Shushu immediately pointed at Zhao Jiabao's hand to Yang Xiaobei, and Yang Xiaobei also saw that Zhao Jiabao's hand was light red.
Jiang Shushu clenched his fist and shook it twice in the air, suggesting to Yang Xiaobei that the color on Zhao Jiabao's hand was dyed with red paper.
"Zhao Jiabao, are you sure you didn't touch the red paper inside the warning sign today?"
"Yes, I didn't touch it. I didn't touch any paper."
"Are you sure you haven't touched any red paper today?"
"I'm sure I didn't touch it."
"Then what about the red on your hand? It's clearly left by the red paper. Are you still lying?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
